A History of English Words (The Language Library) Review

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A History of English Words (The Language Library) ReviewThe book gives a good history of the English lexicon with a level of restraint in the use of linguistic technical terms that makes the work accessible. Particularly interesting is the analysis of why the different subjects that words covered correlated with their source. For example, much of the language of power and law (felony, court, etc.) comes from the Norman French reflecting that the ruling class of England spoke that for a few centuries. The book covers the burgeoning of the lexicon during the Renaissance, the attempt to standardize English with the creation of the first dictionaries and contemporary trends in the development of English words.
It is also particularly useful on why words from different sources were used in literature looking, for example, at Chaucer's use of Anglo-Saxon words for some characters and French loan words for others or how the shifting mores of various times in English history affected what words were morally acceptable.
It also covers controversies over what words are "proper" English. There was a controversy in the Renaissance over the large amount of foreign words coming into the English language. Another example is Samuel Johnson's (compiler of an important early dictionary) opposition to words of French extraction.
One minor quibble is that a section of why English lost its inflections would have been relevant as it would have prefaced the part of the discussion of the Renaissance period in which new words were created by conversion (words changing grammatical role, for example, a noun being used as a verb).
Note that this isn't general history of the English language, just the lexicon. Those looking for changes in phonology and grammar will have to look elsewhere.A History of English Words (The Language Library) OverviewThis book traces the remarkable reconfigurations that English lexis has undergone in the past millennium. The vocabulary is studied as an indicator of social change, a symbol reflecting different social dynamics between speech communities, on models of dominance, cohabitation, colonialism and globalisation.
Comprehensive guide to the evolution of the English vocabulary.
Well known passages from literature are used to illustrate the variety of English words.
Accessible discussion of Latin, Greek, Germanic and Norman-French languages.
Contains original research into the make-up of the current lexical core of English.


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